THE CREED

Part 5: The Church & Sacraments

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

Apostles’ Creed: “…I believe in… the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.”

• COTN Articles of Faith #11-13: The Church, Baptism, & The Lord’s Supper

1.) The Church’s members are one body.

• 1 Cor. 12:12-13a, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are man, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body…”
• catholic; general, universal, the church “throughout”
• Ephesians 4:4

2.) The Church’s members are uniquely gifted.

• 1 Cor. 12:14, “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
• 1 Cor. 12:4, 11, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them… and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
• Ephesians 4:7, 16

3.) The Church’s members are God’s gift to you.

• 1 Cor. 12:18, “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”
• koinonia; communion, fellowship, close relationships
• 1 Cor. 12:21, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’”

4.) The Church’s members are on a mission.

• 1 Cor. 12:25, “God has combined the members of the body… so that there should be no division in the body…”
• 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
• Matthew 5:14, 16